Indooe-gkhqp course



1. F. ROWLE Y. INDOOR GOLF COURSE..

APPLICATION FILED 1AN- l9, 19H}.

Patented Nov. 18, 1919 JAMES F. ROWLEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

INDOOR-GOLF COURSE.

iseaoss.

Specification of Letters ratent.

Patented Nov. is, rile,

Application filed January 19, 1918. Serial No. 212,629.

1'?) all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, James F. lion/mar, a citizen of the United Eltates of America, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and idtate of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in indoor-Golf Courses, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to the game of golf and the objects of the invention are to provide a structure suitably arranged for indoor golf playing or practising when weather conditions will not permit outdoor playing. With this end in view, the invention is embodied in a structure approximately one hundred feet or more in diameter, having a floor marked or otherwise prepared to provide a green, a rough, and a fairway, and surrounding side walls suitably constructed to guide the golf balls so as to cause them to travel around the course over distances depending upon the force and character of the players stroke, introducing hazards and the element of luck, and otherwise calling into play much or all of the ingenuity and skill required in playing over the usual golf course.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawlngs, in which- Figure 1 represents a plan view of a golf course constructed according to this invention but with the covering or roof removed.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional detail taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

ln the construction shown, the side wall 1 is curved to surround a circular ground space 2. The floor space is suitably marked or otherwise arranged to provide a central green 3, which is surrounded by a rough area 4, and the latter is surrounded by a fairway 5, all of these being of the same nature as the corresponding parts of an outdoor golf course or being arranged to snnulate them. The wall 1 is adjacent to the outside edge of the fairway. Assuming that the device is about one hundred feet in diameter, the diameter of the green would be approximately forty-four feet, the width of the rough, five feet, and the width of the fairway, twenty feet. Accordingly, if a ball driven from the fairway against the inner side of the curved wall strikes the wall at such angle as to not rebound into the fairway, but to continue to travel around the wall, it will travel approXimately one hundred yards each time that it goes all around the circle. The portion 6 of the curved wall 1 may be formed of relatively rigid material of little or no resiliency, while the extreme upper and lower portions 7 and 8 of the wall 1 may be made of canvas. The wall is suitably sup ported by a frame structure 9 as shown in Fig. 2.

With this general arrangement of the golf course, the same may be artificially lighted by a single central lamp, and the entire struo ture may be inclosed to protect the player against inclement weather conditions.

The horizontal curvature of the wall is preferably exactly circular, although this may obviously be varied, should it be desirable to do so. The elemental vertical shape of the wall is preferably curved so that said wall will overhang the course and thereby tend to gradually bring to a horizontal path balls which strike the wall at various vertical angles, and inasmuch as the device is an exercising apparatus, the player may be required to walk around the fairway and cover about the same distance as he would walk in an ordinary golf game, namely, the same distance as is traversed by hisball. Likewise, the players may pass around the course singly or in groups, as in the ordinary game.

Balls which are driven at undesirable angles will be damped by the canvas areas 7 and 8 and caused to fall back on the fairway, producing the eflect of so-called dub shot-s. After the player has gone the required distance around the course, which dis tance may be indicated by markings on the side walls, then he may pass from the fairway onto the green, and if in so doing his ball should fall onto the rough area, he would have difliculties such as arise in similar areas on the open links, or he may pass clear of the rough onto the green, where he will cut for the hole.

The rules may provide that when the ball traverses more than the specified distance representing the length of the link, return shots will have to be made to bring the ball within reasonable limits to approximately the desired distance around the course, be fore permitting the player to pass onto the green. Suitable rules and regulations will obviously suggest themselves to one skilled in the game of golf, so that the playing with the herein-described apparatus will closely simulate the conditions of a golf course laid out in the open country in the usual manner.

The middle part of the roof may also be made of canvas and may be arranged to be withdrawn in pleasant weather to give the player the benefit of sunlight and the open air.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A golf course, comprising a green, a fairway encircling said green, and an inwardly concave wallencircling said fairway for guiding the ball.

2. An indoor golf course, comprising a surrounding wall and a floor, said floor being arranged to provide a central green, a rough surrounding said green, and a fairway surrounding said rough.

3. An indoor golf course, comprising a central green, a fairway surrounding said green, and a wall outside of said fairway, said wall having its inner surface concave with respect to the vertical.

4. A golf course, comprising a curved fairway, and a wall extending along the outer side of said fairway and adapted to guide a ball along said fairway, the vertical elements of said wall being concave toward said fairway.

Signed at Chicago this 15th day of Jan. 1918.

JAMES F. ROWLEY. 

